2.12.2006

21st century smokers

This is bound to piss of some friends, but I was walking into the CVS today, and had to pass by the gang of CVS workers on their smoking break. What dregs of society. Banning smoking in public (a very positive development, libertarian leanings be dambed) has really created a new underclass. Or exposed one, at least. Look at the group of people smoking outside of Wal-Mart or whatever business you walk into. For the most part they are your typical lowlives. Anybody still smoking on a daily basis in 2006, really can't claim the title of "sharpest tool in the shed."

Now, I won't go any farther into the reasons why smoking is stupid. This blog isn't about being preachy. But if you are one of the group out there on "smoking break," every half hour and you aren't a welfare mother, you might want to think about how you are perceived these days.

Now to my several smoker friends, who hopefully aren't reading this. I'll give you somewhat of a pass, because most of you only smoke while you are drinking, which is a slight mitigating factor. But hey, it's 2006. You don't look like James Dean anymore, you look like a busboy at Denny's, and if you keep it up, you are going to sound like Johnny Most.

2 Comments:

I dunno... I'm not comfortable saying, "I despise this so much that I'm going to deny everyone their right to do it", so my libertarian streak must run different than yours. To be fair though, my libertarian views are different from almost anyone I know :)

I don't believe anyone who says that second hand smoke is any worse for you than the smoke emanating from barbeque pits, fireplaces or even Burger King's gas grills. The fact that no one is considering banning these things proves to me that the real reason behind all of the smoking bans is that some people either just despise the act, or can't stand the smell. That seems selfish to me.

Man, some people are as dumb as a bag full of hammers. The surgeon general estimates that more than 400,000 deaths are attributable to smoking annually in the United States. Think of how much that costs us all in insurance increases across the board. And for what? So you can have the right to kill yourself? Why did “free love” stop? Do you think that STD’s and AIDS had anything to do with it? Of course it did and now people have learned to protect themselves and to pass the message to their loved ones. Smoking is just as deadly yet people still do it and in public! If you want to buy some smokes and have a cigarette in your car or home, that’s your business, but I don’t want to look at you smoking in front of or on the side of a business I’m about to enter. When I see these people outside of their employers building smoking, I can’t imagine why they don’t understand why they simply will not become the next round of corporate pink slips when the inevitable layoff occurs. Ask yourself who you would cut; now you see what I’m talking about.